PHILADELPHIA, PA – WXPN, the nationally-recognized leader in Triple A music and noncommercial radio service of the University of Pennsylvania, names Black Kids as its July Artist To Watch. Host Bruce Warren will present the first of the month’s on-air segments July 1 in the 4 p.m. hour.

Black Kids have quickly gained recognition as one of the most intriguing and exciting emerging artists of the year. The funky indie-pop group from Jacksonville broke out in 2007 with their performance at CMJ, and has since enjoyed glowing praise from critics, bloggers, and fans alike for their faux-disco-inspired sound. On the strength of their self-released 2007 Wizards of Ahhhs EP alone, Rolling Stone named them a top-ten Artist to Watch for 2008 and Columbia Records signed them to a major-label deal. The dynamic group is led by frontman Reggie Youngblood, whose Robert Smith-like vocals and charismatic on-stage presence distinguish Black Kids as seriously deserving of the hype they’ve received. Their upcoming debut album, Partie Traumatic, is scheduled for a July 22 US release and includes the band’s infectious first single, “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You.” Black Kids recently played an XPN Free At Noon concert at World Cafe Live and are slated to headline their own European tour this summer.

"We've been following the adventures of Black Kids since their performance at CMJ in 2007 took the music world by storm and we've been impressed,” said Bruce Warren, Assistant General Manager of Pogramming for WXPN. “The Florida band writes some pretty vibrant, bouncy and catchy pop songs and their major label record is one of the best debut albums of 2008. Their songs are immediately etched upon on your mind and the song ‘I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You’ is the roll-down-your-car windows hit of the summer."

For more on the XPN Artists To Watch series and this month’s featured artist, visit Artist To Watch.

The XPN Artists To Watch series reflects WXPN’s commitment to nurturing fresh, new talent and exposing listeners to the best new music. Each month, the XPN Artists To Watch series spotlights a different up-and-coming performer who has produced an album or body of work that demonstrates outstanding vision, creativity and songwriting ability. Month-long on-air promotion is combined with online features to help audiences discover each artist.

WXPN, the nationally recognized leader in Triple A radio and the premier guide for discovering new and significant artists in rock, blues, roots, and folk, is the non-commercial, member-supported radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. WXPN produces World Cafe®, public radio's most popular program of popular music hosted by David Dye and syndicated by NPR, and the Peabody Award winning Kids Corner hosted by Kathy O'Connell. WXPN also produces XPN 2 as its secondary radio channel in HD that is also available online. WXPN serves the greater Philadelphia area at 88.5 FM, the Lehigh Valley at 104.9, Worton/Baltimore at 90.5 FM, Lancaster/York at 88.7 FM, Harrisburg at 99.7 FM, and the world via online streaming at XPN.org.